Abstract: When cotton comber is carding at high speed, fibers damage and breakage would be caused by its cylinder carding, which influences on the combing quality. Therefore, this paper aiming at the cotton fiber breakage, constructs the theoretical velocity model of cotton comber on the condition that the cotton fibers are not ruptured, and also calculates the maximum theoretical velocity of cotton comber, namely “flexible combing value”. This theoretical velocity model considers the average carding force of single fiber in the process of combing as well as the breaking strength of cotton fiber. Based on the theoretical analysis, this paper also verifies the accuracy of theoretical velocity according to amount variation of short fibers between before and after the cylinder combing, and proposes the concept of “flexible combing ratio”. This study will provide a theoretical foundation for the development of new type of high-speed cotton comber and its carding part both with high-quality combing.

Key words: soft combing, soft combing value, soft combing ratio, average carding force, maximum velocity, fiber breakage